US sets up task force to disrupt Iran’s land supply routes — Pajhwok

KABUL (Pajhwok): The United States Central Command (CENTCOM) has announced plans to disrupt Iran’s land-based supply routes, expanding its months-long naval blockade of Iranian ports, Al Jazeera reported. CENTCOM announced on Saturday the establishment of Task Force Iron Gate “to prevent Iran from using ground routes to transport advanced weapons and other materials”. The task force will reinforce “the success of our ironclad blockade against Iran at sea”, CENTCOM Commander Admiral Brad Cooper said. Based in Tampa, Florida, it will coordinate with other US government agencies to prevent the movement of advanced weapons systems, dual-use technologies, sanctioned materials and illegal revenue streams across Iran’s land borders and the Caspian Sea, CENTCOM said. Michael Mulroy, a former US deputy assistant secretary of defence for the Middle East, told Al Jazeera that the task force would identify weapons supply routes, ways to disrupt them and how Iran transports its energy resources. He said any escalation ordered by US President Donald Trump would likely involve attacks on economic and infrastructure targets. Separately, CENTCOM said on Saturday that its forces had disabled a commercial cargo vessel in the Gulf of Oman as part of the blockade. A US military aircraft fired precision munitions at the stern of the St Kitts-flagged M/V Huda after its crew was instructed to abandon the targeted areas, CENTCOM said….